With no more drafts in the NWSL, college players entering the league have a number of challenges coming their way. First, there’s getting a contract with a club, and later, earning minutes on a team with seasoned veterans. Ahead of the NWSL 2025 regular season, nearly every club has invited or signed an incoming former collegiate player, but how they’ll impact the team is yet to be seen. Some clubs have already signed players with high ceilings and loaned them to other leagues or will work with them off injury.
Washington Spirit signed Nigerian international and former Pitt midfielder Deborah Abiodun, and she will start her pro club journey on loan with USL’s Dallas Trinity FC. Trinity Byars of the San Diego Wave is a top forward prospect, the first to sign with an NWSL side post-draft elimination, and is currently working her way back from an ACL injury.
There’s a bit of a learning curve in this next era of NWSL post-drafts, with club executives and players expressing the different learnings and approaches that will shift as teams figure out new ways to build their rosters and recruit young talent.
With the NWSL regular season just around the corner, here are a few players to keep an eye on:
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